TOK Essay

Topic: Evaluate The Strengths And Weaknesses Of Reason As A Way Of Knowing.

Candidate Name: Sahil Bhoolabhai

Candidate No: 200759

Word Count: 1396

There are four ways of knowing – reason, perception, language and emotion. A way of knowing refers to the various ways human beings can gather and extrapolate information – primarily through the ways mentioned above. Every individual has a distinct view of reason. Reason is best described by me as “gathering information and data and carrying out logical steps in order to reach a conclusion in order to prove a certain thing. An epitome of reason is-the reason for advancement in technology in the twenty first century is due to numerous applications and discoveries in physics. Reason is a way of knowing which is comprised of diverse fundamentals. In order to justify a reason lucid explanations and logic is particularly requisite. Reason also involves correct interpretation of ideas based on logic. Reasoning provides the foundation of supporting or contradicting an idea, myth, ideal, etc. This forms the major strength of the power of reasoning. However, our sense of reasoning can be overpowered by our emotions and sense of perception. .The very essence of reason can be determined by investigating its value in context with the other ways of knowing -emotion, perception and language and linking reason with the various areas of knowledge.

         Once something has been effectively been proved by lucid reasoning nothing can overpower this fact. A linkage of reason with Physics demonstrates this fact. Reasoning serves as a base for proving theories and supporting various facts and truths. Physics is a subject that is based only on the power of reason. Sir Isaac Newton proved the three laws of motion using qualitative reasoning and logical steps and the fundamental formula of motion, that is, force is equal to the product of mass of a body multiplied by its acceleration. It is solely due to the discoveries in physics by hours and hours of reasoning by scientists and physicists that there have led to numerous advancements in technology in the world.

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             Reasoning is exceptionally useful with respect to interpretation of information. Many a time, a business entrepreneur desires to know as to why his company has been facing high labour turnover, he can hire an analyst who will look into labour turnover levels in the past few years ,use this information to produce graphical data of the labour turnover levels and enumerate the reasons for high labour turnover levels. Thus, after assessing the state of affairs the analyst will suggest methods for decreasing labour turnover levels. Information can be qualitatively analyzed by efficient reasoning. Experiments ...

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